


Go Make Some New Disaster

by undeadsnorlax



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Banter, Family Bonding, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Siblings, but mostly this is hargreeves bullshit and also them loving each other LIKE FAMILY SHOULD, speculative season 3 fanfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27234877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undeadsnorlax/pseuds/undeadsnorlax
Summary: Team Zero - formally the Umbrella Academy - land in a 2019 they don't belong in. They either have to figure out a way to fix everything and get back to their original timeline, or accept their new life and figure out how to get by.And hope their former father and his brand new Sparrow Academy don't have anything sinister planned in the meantime.
Relationships: The Hargreeves Family
Comments: 39
Kudos: 120





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I said to myself I wouldn't start uploading this yet, but I've written so much already and there's like. a sort of actual plot forming in my head and my writing journal, so why not. I know there's a few of these kinds of fics already but lemme throw my hat into the ring. give it the Undead flair. I don't know what I'm talking about anymore.
> 
> expect some fun duo/trios to split off every so often and get some focus, as well as them working as a family because it's what we deserve (and also them working through some issues in general and **actually talking** about some stuff)  
> also yes, some Sparrow antics because ~fun~
> 
> sort of a follow up to [Cherry Bomb](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26461432) but it's not necessary reading (there's only one or two real references to it)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The six settle down in their new (hopefully temporary) base of operations and discuss what to do the next day.

_“I heard a rumour that we could stay here for as long as we want.”_

The receptionist’s eyes went milky white, before she smiled, typing into her computer.

“Ah, room 205 is available. That’s two doubles and a pull out.”

Six keys were placed in front of them, as the receptionist gestured through the window. “Up those stairs there and it’s the third door along. We have a laundry room next door, and there’s a few vending machines there if you need some snacks or drinks. We also ask that you keep any noise down after ten thirty please.”

Her smile was beginning to look a little unnerving. “I hope you enjoy your time at Supreme Rest!”

The six Hargreeves siblings made their way out of the check-in building, each clutching a key to themselves as they went the way they were directed.

Allison gripped her key a little tighter, the same sense of guilt she usually felt when using her power to manipulate in such a way. Even if it did save them some money.

They stood in front of the door for a bit, nobody really moving. Not wanting to accept that this was really happening, they were really going to shack up in this motel room for who knows how long.

“I’ll uh, do the honours,” Klaus said finally, opening it up and striding inside with confidence.

He stopped in the centre of the room, hands on his hips as he looked around. “Oh! Much nicer than I remember. Maybe in this timeline, they got a better interior decorator.”

Diego gave a sidelong glance at the pastel clementine walls, and tutted at his brother’s taste.

The rest of the room was fine. Two double beds up against the left wall, with a side table each and a chest of drawers in between, on which was an electric kettle and a few supplies to make hot drinks. There was a small living room area with a couch, likely the pull out mentioned, and two armchairs angled around a wall mounted TV and a mini fridge. Beside that was a circular dining table and two chairs, then a built-in wardrobe and a door that probably led to a bathroom. And...that was it, other than a kitschy painting of a farmhouse above the beds, and an ugly burnt orange carpet.

Immediately Five gravitated towards the kettle, rummaging through the box at its side and letting out a sigh. “Decaf…”

“Well, now the whole thing of accommodation is out of the way, we can spend that money on other things,” Klaus said, draping himself over the nearest armchair, “Clothes for one. I think we all need new outfits and a trip to the laundrette.”

He made a show of picking at his jacket and giving a sniff to the armpit. “We stinky.”

Vanya spotted a pen and pad on the dining table and sat down there, starting to write.

“So new clothes and coffee,” she mumbled, underlining a list titled ‘ _to buy’_ , “Anything else?”

“Well, food is a whole situation,” Five said, walking over to the wardrobe and shoving the Commission briefcase inside for safe keeping. He then slumped down in the second dining chair, rubbing between his eyes. “Dining out all the time will get expensive, and I don’t think we’ll survive on candy from the vending machine alone.”

“There was a microwave in the reception,” Luther said, kicking off his shoes and sitting on one of the beds, lifting his feet up to rub his soles, “We could get a few meals in the fridge there.”

“I’m no stranger to living off instant noodles,” Diego added, falling face first on the bed behind Luther, before rolling onto his back, “If we stock up on stuff like that, we’re good.”

“Add multivitamins to the list Vanny,” Klaus said, tapping her shoulder, “We’re gonna die of like, fucking scurvy with One and Two in charge of our diets.”

“Hey! No more numbers!”

“First aid stuff,” Allison said sharply before any kind of argument could break out, “Bandages and antiseptic...just in case. And cereal bars, they’re always good to have around.”

“Good idea,” Vanya said, tapping the pen against the paper, “Anything else?”

“A sense of purpose?” Five offered dryly, swinging his legs back and forth.

The others fell silent. This whole situation wasn’t ideal in the slightest, but they had to deal with the hand they were given right now.

“We can think of a bit more in the morning then,” Vanya said, setting the list aside, “Uh, how about sleeping arrangements? We will have to share…”

“Easy.” Klaus sat up properly, pointing at everyone in turn. “Five and Vanya take the pull out. Then me and Allison, Luther and Diego, we get a bed each.”

Five let out a small scoff. “Why does it not surprise me you’ve already thought of this?”

“Why do _we_ have to share?” Luther asked, pointing his thumb in Diego’s direction.

“Because you’re big smelly boys,” Klaus said with a wicked grin, “Plus, if you roll over, Diego is the most likely to survive.”

“I do _not_ smell-“

Diego started to snap, but Luther placed a hand on his chest, pulling a slight face. “I mean...he’s not wrong. You usually wear leather, and I sweat a lot.”

“Oh, that’s just what I wanna hear when we’re gonna be sharing a bed for who knows how long!”

“Soap, that’s it!” Vanya cried, scribbling another note down, “And toothbrushes...deodorant...urgh, we’re all gonna be kinda gross until then huh?”

“We’ll split up tomorrow,” Allison said, looking through the cracks in the blinds, “Three of us get clothes, three of us get groceries. Maybe...me, Five and Klaus for clothes, Luther, Diego and Vanya for supplies?”

“You and Klaus are welcome to go shopping,” Five said, slipping out of his jacket and throwing it over the back of the chair, “But I’m planning on finding a library.”

“What for?” Vanya asked, letting out a small sigh.

“We need as much information on this new timeline as we can get. And in case you’ve forgotten, we didn’t exactly leave the Sixties as anonymous nobodies! We were known terrorists…”

He shrugged, removing his tie. “And a random schoolboy they’d kidnapped, but regardless. All the stuff we did might have changed more than just the Umbrella Academy no longer existing with the Sparrow Academy in its place.”

“My cult!” Klaus gasped, slapping his hands to his face, “Oh, God, I hope they didn’t go full cloud cuckoo in my absence.”

“Exactly.” Five took off his shoes, swinging his legs back and forth as he stared at his socks. “We did a lot of damage. And...I know you guys couldn’t help it. You did what you had to in order to survive…”

“I still don’t think we should split up,” Allison said firmly, “At least take someone else with you, so it looks like you’re not just some kid running about unsupervised.”

“Fine. I choose Diego.”

Five turned to meet his bewildered stare and smiled. It was exhausted but it was an actual soft smile none of them thought the little assassin was capable of. “Two former Commission agents. You may have been a vanity hire, but you seemingly did some good work in your time there.”

“Well that’s settled then.” Allison stood up, shrugging off her cloak. “We can sort out splitting the money and stuff in the morning but I’m gonna take a shower.”

She hugged herself as she walked past, noticing her siblings watching her. She was still lost in the thought of not seeing her daughter again, still grieving the husband she left behind, but they could tell when she wanted a little more time to herself.

“Uh, Five, let’s set up our bed huh?” Vanya asked, quickly trying to change the mood.

“Hm?” Five raised his head, taking a few more seconds to process the words than usual. “Oh, yeah, sure.”

“Maybe we should assign everyone a drawer,” Klaus said, getting up and starting to investigate the empty mini-fridge, “For our clothes, I mean.”

“We’ll probably need to find jobs too,” Luther mumbled, staring at his toes and wriggling them against the carpet, “Something low-key though.”

“We’ll need ID before that,” Diego said, taking off his harness and placing it on the side table, “Unless we can find places that’ll pay under the table. Also, I’m taking the left side of the bed.”

“I can probably get us some ID made.”

Klaus kicked the fridge door shut, tilting his hat back. “I knew a guy, hopefully he’s still around in this timeline, so I can get us set up with that stuff, easily.”

Diego shook his head, slipping out of his t-shirt with a sigh. “Of course you know a guy that makes fake ID.”

“Hey, _technically_ they wouldn’t be fake, because all the info would be right. Just... _illegally_ made.”

“Or I break into Dad’s office and steal some cash,” Five said with a short laugh, rearranging couch cushions, “Not that I really know where-“

“The bottom drawer of his desk had a false back,” Luther said, narrowing his eyes as he took off his sweater, revealing a vest underneath, “There was usually about two grand in there.”

Realising the other four were staring at him, he flushed. “What? Asshole didn’t leave us any official inheritance in our own time after he died, and given the situation he’s left us in here, fuck it. You might as well.”

“Two _grand_?!” Vanya cried, leaning over the back of the couch, “Are you serious? Why do you even know that?”

“He told me for some reason. Perks of being his favourite, he trusted me with a lot of random information.” Luther scratched the back of his neck, glancing away with an awkward grin. “How d’you think we paid for Griddy’s every time as kids? I’d skim a little from the pile whilst Ben kept watch…”

Silence again. _Ben_. Still a painful subject.

They all just got ready for bed instead, ignoring that over the sound of the shower they could just about hear Allison sob softly.

*

Five sat up in the dark, letting his eyes adjust to the gloom as he took in the sounds of his family.

Vanya slept soundly by his side, her hair tied up into a loose pony. Allison was hugging a pillow to her chest, curled up in a ball.

Five felt a little knot in his stomach, even more determined to do what else he had planned for tomorrow at the library.

Klaus squirmed. A _lot_. The bedsheets were tangled around his ankles as his hair lay covering his face in all directions.

Diego, for all his earlier complaining, was now cuddled up to Luther’s back like one might a large teddy bear, whilst Luther’s arm dangled off the edge of the bed, knuckles brushing the ground. It made Five smirk a little.

It turned out they both snored too, but it was an almost soothing sound after a while.

For now, Five let out a slow sigh, going to get a drink of water from the bathroom. He stared at himself hard in the mirror, the face that was his but shouldn’t be, and cracked for just a moment.

He ducked his head against the counter, clasping it between his arms and letting out a shaky, shallow breath.

He hadn’t had a break in two weeks straight, he almost didn’t trust this peaceful retreat they’d found. Worried that maybe the Handler hadn’t died ( _again_ ), and she’d burst in through the door with a grenade to kill his family once and for all.

He took another breath, the memory of his siblings’ bullet ridden corpses on the floor of the barn as he lay bleeding still too strong in his mind. He didn’t know if he could tell them. He knew he should, that’s what they seemed to be doing know, telling each other things but…how do you even begin? The thought of the sympathy he’d receive made his skin crawl, but every time he closed his eyes it’s like he was back there.

He stared at his reflection again through red rimmed eyes, sniffling loudly. He didn’t even have the energy to cry right now.

He knocked back a full glass of water and crept back to the pull out, squirming under the sheets.

“Five?”

Vanya’s voice was barely a whisper, reaching out a hand to comfortingly rest on his shoulder.

“You alright?”

“Just tired,” he whispered back, rolling over to face her, “I know, we all are, but…”

“Five...for once, just slow down.” In the gloom, he could just about make out her soft smile. “I know researching things keeps your brain happy, but take it easy tomorrow. Yeah?”

“...fine.”

He paused, grabbing at her shirt before she could roll over again. “...could I have a hug?”

Maybe he wasn’t _too_ proud to show a little weakness.

Vanya seemed a little taken aback by this, but shifted her arms outwards. Five immediately wiggled close, feeling the light weight of her limbs on his back and he scrunched his eyes shut.

He would pretend, just tonight, that he was actually thirteen, because even all these years later, he craved the simplicity of being a child. The kind of things he missed out on, even before being trapped in the apocalypse. A child, a normal one, didn’t have the same worries he did.

Within the safety of his sister’s hug, he slept the best he had in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone will get the hug (or other appropriate comfort they deserve) in the next few chapters, don't you worry...the three duos I've put them in here are some of my favourites


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team split off for their various supply runs. Klaus and Allison do some shopping (and opening up).

Their breakfast the next morning was a small bag of pretzels each that Five had gotten from the vending machine outside. They spent some time going over the list they made the night before, Vanya rewriting the groceries with any additions they might have thought of since, as well as a whole other list with everyone’s clothes sizes and preferences.

Then, they figured out how to split the money they had. After some deliberation, Luther and Vanya got the most to spend on food and other supplies, Allison and Klaus took a decent amount for clothes, leaving Five and Diego with what remained for safe keeping.

“Maybe keep some cash to buy lunch,” Allison suggested, looking over her list as they all walked out, “You don’t have to spend everything, but don’t worry if you do. All be back by five, okay?”

“Yes Mom,” Diego scoffed, before immediately wincing as he realised just what he’d said.

“It’s fine,” she mumbled, glancing away quickly, “See you all this evening.”

Her and Klaus went off in one direction, though she did hear Luther shove Diego with a low “Dude, come on!” before they turned a corner.

Klaus folded his hands behind his head, pulling his lips thin. He knew what needed to be done, but it was finding the right moment to ask.

“Klaus?”

Oh, maybe he wouldn’t have to.

“When...when you said you were talking to a ghost in my place...that was Ben, wasn’t it?”

_Ah. Shit._

Klaus nodded slowly. “Yeah. It was. I’m sorry for lying to you guys, about ghosts not being able to time travel. I was just a lil’ pissed with him…”

“No, it’s fine, I just…” She smiled, a hand on his shoulder. “I’m glad he was there.”

Klaus wished he still was. For all the times he’d sneer, wishing Ben would leave him alone, it truly felt like he’d lost an arm or something without having his voice nagging in his ear.

No. He wasn’t the focus today.

“So, thrift shops first, hm?” he asked, taking the list from Allison’s hand, “Then maybe we’ll treat everyone to something a little pricey. How’s about that?”

“Sounds great.” Allison tilted her head toward the sun, shutting her eyes for a moment to bask in it. “I think we should try and get at least two tops for everyone, and maybe a spare pair of pants.”

“Good idea. Urgh, it’s going to take _forever_ to build up a decent wardrobe though.”

Klaus fake-pouted, getting a small laugh from his sister. Perfect.

After a short walk, they found themselves in a small shopping district Klaus recognised back from their own time. Hours spent just window shopping, with maybe the occasional five finger discount when he was too high to give a shit about consequences.

“Weird how little seems to have changed,” he mused, squinting at the sign of the first store. Maybe it had been green instead of blue before.

Inside, they found a pack of white shirts meant for school children, the perfect replacement for the outfit Five had worn for two weeks straight. There was also a pair of black jeans in Diego’s size, and a shirt Allison knew Vanya would adore.

After some internal conflict, Klaus decided to indulge in a top with flowing sleeves and tassels.

“I thought you were gonna go full cowboy,” Allison said as they left the store, looking at his hat with some emotion he wasn’t quite sure of. Pain, probably pain and embarrassment.

“As fantastic as I would look in assless chaps, I think that would kill at least three of the others.” He hummed, looking down at the list then around the street. “Is there a big and tall store here? I don’t think most places go up to Luther’s size, poor guy…”

“We’ll find everyone something,” Allison said with determination, pointing at a menswear store, “They’re bound to have stuff.”

And she was right, of course. As she browsed through the sweaters and button ups that Luther seemed to favour, Klaus decided to speak up.

“Hey. Are you...good?”

Allison frowned, not looking at him as she chose between two different colours of knitwear. “What do you mean?”

“Leaving Ray and then...coming here. To no Claire.” Klaus picked up a random t-shirt from a discount rack, deciding Diego would wear it. “I...can’t imagine it’s been easy.”

Allison put one of the sweaters back, taking a shaky breath. Klaus briefly grimaced at her distant expression, realising that maybe this wasn’t the best place to hold such a conversation, but-

“No, it...hasn’t,” she said softly, grabbing a flannel shirt and throwing it over her arm, “I’m…really struggling to process it. I just wanted to see my little girl again and now…”

She scrunched up her face, sighing out of gritted teeth. “I know we all feel lost, but I keep thinking about Claire and wondering how badly we’ve messed things up…”

She trailed off with a soft whine, all the mourning she had the energy for. Immediately Klaus has his arm around her waist, squeezing her hip.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. We’ll figure something out.”

He shifted to pull her into a hug, slightly awkward with the bags they were already holding, but she still buried her face against his shoulder. “You got us. I wanna meet my gorgeous lil’ niece so badly, and I _will_. We _all_ will. Diego will be teaching her knife throwing and Vanya giving her violin lessons before you know it.”

“I will kill Diego if he tries,” Allison said, her voice breaking with the want to cry, but she still laughed, rubbing her eyes, “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Know I’m not the best with words, but who in this family is? ...other than you, of course.”

That got a proper laugh, maybe just for the catharsis as she tossed her head back. Klaus let himself relax, gesturing to the rest of the store.

“Come on! Nothing like some good ol’ retail therapy to cheer anyone up! That all for here?”

Allison reviewed the list and giggled. “Underwear and socks for you boys.”

“Just underwear for me. Haven’t worn socks full time since I was seventeen.”

Allison feigned a disgusted look, giving him a playful shove. “You are gross!”

Klaus just cackled, glad to see tension leaving his sister’s stance. He knew it wasn’t fixed – it wouldn’t be until Claire was in her arms – but for now, she was going to have as much fun as he could provide.

He made their next stop the chain drug store, dragging her to the makeup counters where they swatched every shade of eyeshadow up their arms, contemplating which they’d go for.

“Go on, treat yourself,” Allison said, pressing a tube of liquid eyeliner into his palm.

Klaus raised his brows with a grin. “Wow, you...remembered which I use.”

“Because you stole it from me for six years straight! Go on!”

“Well, so long as youuu get this!”

He grabbed a simple eyeshadow palette, a few neutral tones with some glittery golds and bronzes. Allison rolled her eyes a little, but they took both to the cashier to pay, deciding to grab a few medical supplies like painkillers and bandages whilst they were at the drugstore.

“You’re gonna steal these too, aren’t you?” Allison asked, smiling down at the palette in her hands.

“Oh, only that sparkly black one.”

As they walked out, discussing where to head next, Klaus caught some kind of movement from the corner of his eye. Now, he was used to that, he saw see dead people after all, but something about it…

He looked over his shoulder, just catching a figure running down a nearby alley. He felt the hairs raise on the back of his neck, striding over without saying anything, just raising a hand as Allison gave him a puzzled look.

The alley was empty. The back wall was probably easy to vault for a few people, but not in that amount of time.

Unless…

“It’s nothing,” he said as he came back, shaking his head, “I thought...something was watching us.”

“A ghost?”

“No. Bit fleshier than that.”

Klaus shook his head clear, the grave look ( _ha-ha)_ vanishing from his face in an instant.

“But it was nothing! C’mon, you haven’t gotten one thing for yourself.”

*

“How are you, by the way?”

Klaus did a slight double take at the question. He and Allison had retreated to a very cosy little bookstore café to indulge in an afternoon tea, their feet surrounded by several bags from practically every store in town. Turns out shopping for six people with wildly contrasting tastes in fashion could really rack up an interesting haul.

“What do you mean?” he asked, sipping his tea.

Allison drummed her fingers against the table lightly, staring directly at the dog tags still hanging around his neck. “You asked how I was feeling about Ray…what about your…boyfriend?”

“Ah.”

Klaus averted her gaze, instead deciding to trace the swirl pattern on the floor with his eyes. “Dave. His name was Dave.”

“You mentioned him when we were drinking in the salon but…not much else.”

She reached across the table and put her hands in the middle. With a small sigh, he set his cup down and held them.

“You…wouldn’t have believed me before,” he said slowly, feeling his throat tighten for moment, “But yesterday wasn’t the first time I’ve travelled using one of those briefcases.”

His fingers ran slowly over her palms, pulling an expression of mild distress. He really forgot to tell his siblings about the most important person in his life.

“Back in our original timeline, I travelled back to the Vietnam War. I was there for ten months, and I met Dave. We fell in love…and then he died, so I came back.”

Allison’s eyes went wide, taking a sharp intake through her nostrils. Klaus gave a wobbly smile, starting to squeeze her hands.

“I loved him, more than I’ve ever loved someone like that. Then I…I ran into him again in Dallas and it didn’t go so well. I scared him. So now in this world, I’m the crazy cult guy who he punched in a diner.”

“Shit…”

Klaus just shrugged, letting out a short laugh. “Hey. How these things go sometimes.”

Allison could only shake her head, watching the usual energy in her brother be replaced with a tiredness she rarely saw. “Why did you never mention this before? Vietnam?!”

“Well, we weren’t exactly having…a _great_ time when it was relevant,” he said with a grimace, “You guys barely believed me about Ben – which is fair, I will admit, my track record for lying about him isn’t great. Then after that, there wasn’t much chance to really bring it up. World was ending, we were all split up, yadda-yadda…”

He pauses, looking up with a more confident smile. “Glad I can talk about him now though. So many stories.”

“Well then!”

Allison got to her feet, grinning wickedly. “We are going to need a lot more cake and finger sandwiches, hm?”

Klaus rolled his eyes, stretching out his legs with his arms behind his head. “So long as you tell me all about the handsome stud that was Raymond Chestnut, dear sister. Every detail.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was writing something in the next chapter and realised...yeah Klaus mentions Dave offhand during the salon scene and ??? I don't think even drops his name ??? sir. please. why does nobody in this family TALK. (I mean I know why but. Y'know.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five and Diego do some research. Five finds how much (or how little) they changed the timeline, whilst Diego finds out more on the Sparrow Academy and stumbles across something...interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is this fic mostly an excuse to explore some fun pair ups of the team? yes of course, why else would I write this.  
> also Five and Diego is a great duo because of how they bicker (though they're a lot more chill here, because CUTE. okay)

“Five, what are you expecting to find exactly?”

Five glanced up at Diego, and rather honestly for him, shrugged. “Anything. I just need to know how badly we might have messed things up.”

As they walked through the doors of the library, Five immediately went up to the reception desk, giving his best ‘I am not a man nearly in his sixties trapped in a teenage body’ smile.

“Do you have many books about the early 1960s?” he asked, fluttering his lashes in a way he found made any adult believe he was sincere, “Especially about the assassination of President John F Kennedy?”

The librarian frowned a little, glancing up at Diego who briefly panicked.

“It’s a school project,” he said quickly, offering an uncomfortable grin as he squeezed Five’s shoulder, “My...son here got assigned 1963 for a presentation.”

Five shot him a look that read **_are you fucking kidding me_** but it worked. The librarian nodded, telling them the sections they should go look in, as well as a few recommendations after searching through her computer.

“We also have some computers in that room there,” she said, pointing it out, “You can do some more searching there, or photocopy any of the books you find. Anything else?”

“You uh...got anything on the Sparrow Academy?” Diego asked slowly.

The librarian seemed a little puzzled, but typed into her computer again. “We have some of their comics in the graphic novel section.”

“Great, thanks. I’m uh, feeling nostalgic.”

“Never refer to me as your son ever again,” Five growled as they hurried off, his shoulders square.

“It’s apparently more believable than you being my brother,” Diego hissed back, giving him a little nudge, “I’ll grab those comics then meet you in the computer room.”

With that, he went off towards the fiction section. Five sighed, reaching the history section. He flicked through a few books he thought might be relevant, skim reading the pages for anything that stood out. He finally settled on a book more aimed at children about the 60s (more for Diego) and a heavy tome all about the assassination itself, including accounts of theories surrounding that day.

He decided to teleport toward the computer room, where Diego was already walking up with a stack of comics in his hands.

“Why did you even get those?”

“Because I’m curious. Can you blame me?”

He fell back into one of the chairs, holding up a comic. The cover was nearly identical to the one that had been made of the Umbrella Academy but with seven children instead of six.

“It’s uncanny. The exact same book, but just... _slightly_ different.”

Five narrowed his eyes a little, setting down the books and scratching at his brow. “Well, there’s something you can do. Research the Sparrow Academy. Find out their powers.”

“You’re expecting something to happen, aren’t you?” Diego said, flicking through one of the other comics before pulling his seat up closer to a computer.

“Well, imagine if that had happened to us. Six strangers claiming _they’re_ the superhero family our father raised. You’d be the first stalking their asses.”

Diego considered this for a moment and nodded. “Yeah...you’re right. It’s inevitable they’ll try to find us at some point, and it could get messy. There any paper by you? I found a pen, might be good to take notes.”

Five looked around, spotting the nearby printer and teleporting towards it, opening up the paper drawer and grabbing a few sheets, before teleporting back to hand them over.

“What are you gonna look up?” Diego asked, starting to twirl the random pen he found between his fingers.

Five took the computer opposite him and opened up one of the books, pupils flickering as they made their way through each paragraph.

“As I’ve said, mostly investigate how much history has hopefully obscured us,” he said, not lifting his eyes from the page, “But also check if anything else major changed. Was there a Third World War? Have we colonised Mars already?”

“Simultaneous low and high hopes for the human race, huh?”

They fell into silence after that, both engrossed in their research. Five finished the book quickly, finding nothing really seemed out of place, aside from the date of JFK’s burial being two days later for whatever reason. So, he decided his best option was typing in their names followed by a few keywords.

_JFK ASSASSINATION VANYA KGB RUSSIA DIEGO CUBA JACK RUBY KING-KONG LUTHER DESTINY’S CHILDREN KLAUS DALLAS CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT ALLISON CHESTNUT_

He let out a slow breath. Most of what turned up was conspiracy theory websites and articles. The blurry photos shown on the news that day was all they really had.

Reading some of the accounts, they apparently had interrogated Lee Harvey Oswald extensively, but he denied any and all knowledge of their existence – which was true. The closest Oswald had gotten to any of them was Diego’s attempt at enacting vigilante justice.

Jack Ruby had also been interviewed not long before he killed Oswald, but said he had no idea. “ _Luther just wasn’t the type to kill the president, y’know? Sensitive soul, wouldn’t hurt a fly like that._ ”

Only Luther could get glowing praise from a gangster.

Five hit a point he was dreading in his research – Raymond Chestnut. Understandably, he’d been dragged in for interrogation, but all he came back with was he hadn’t seen his wife in days since the protest at the diner, with no contact since then. A lie, but a believable one, so he was released without much fuss.

Five made a mental note, deciding to read up on how Destiny’s Children had gone since their prophet vanished.

They’d seemingly settled and made their own little township in New Mexico in ‘67, or as close as a bus full of weirdos that Klaus had spouted random song lyrics to could. Still, it had its own tourist website with a history of the group, ways to join...it was almost impressive if it wasn’t a literal cult his brother had accidentally formed.

For a moment, Five considered using their message form to say their leader had returned, not aged a day since he had last been seen, but that chaos was the last thing they needed right now.

Cautiously, he searched through some sites that listed a timeline of major events, typed in certain dates he remembered to find they still happened. Some were maybe a day later or earlier, like with JFK’s funeral, and there was a minute delay to the Apollo 11 shuttle launch, but nothing that really stuck out as world shattering.

Apart from Reginald Hargreeves choosing a different set of children.

So, with a deep breath, Five searched for what he’d been meaning to, what he hadn’t particularly wanted to, but knew might help at least some of his siblings.

SISSY COOPER OBITUARY

RAYMOND CHESTNUT OBITUARY

And…

“What...what was the name of Klaus’ boyfriend?” Five asked, leaning to the side a little.

Diego was staring blankly at his computer screen, his eyes watering up. Five grimaced, nudging his leg under the table.

“...Diego?”

He jolted in his seat, leaning out to look at him too. “What?”

“Klaus’ boyfriend. Some soldier?”

“Uh…” Diego scrunched his face up, grumbling. “I don’t think he’s ever actually told us his name, or at least not me. Why?”

Five glanced back at his screen and sighed, waving dismissively. “It’s fine, I’ll talk to him about it later. Are you okay?”

“...I’m fine.” Diego rubbed his eyes, sniffling a little as he went back to his work. “Just some dust.”

Five furrowed his brow, but decided to drop the subject for now. Instead, he stared at the results on his screen, clasping his hands together. Two browser windows with two in memoriam passages.

Sissy Cooper, died 2018. Raymond Chestnut, died 2013.

He was expecting it, but it still pained him to know he’d have to break this news to his sisters. He hit print on both the pages, reading over them with an ache in his chest.

In his years of the apocalypse, he gathered what information he could find of what happened to his family during his absence. This life they’d had without him in it, that simultaneously made him feel closer and more distant from them all at once.

He hadn’t even gotten to meet Ray. Reading the memorial, written by his...his daughter ( _shit,_ he’d remarried), he seemed like an amazing man. Of course he was, Allison fell in love with him.

His meeting with Sissy had been brief, but knowing how happy she had made Vanya in that short time, and vice versa, it made him feel some sort of euphoria.

_Wait_. Harlan, Sissy’s son. He’d be, what? Sixty something by now? Logically, hopefully still alive-

“What the fuuuuck. Come look at this.”

Diego’s low voice broke him out of his mental soliloquy, and any further investigating he could have done. Five pinched the bridge of his nose to clear his mind, going to gather up his printouts.

“Oh, yo, could you get my stuff from there too?” Diego called, raising his head up.

Five gave a nod, staring at the two obituaries for a moment before neatly folding them to place inside his jacket, walking over to Diego’s computer and handing him his printouts too.

“So, what got that reaction out of you then?”

“Their Number Four turns into _birds_ ,” he said, gesturing at a pale young woman with a black bob haircut on the screen, “The Flock, aka Gwen.”

Five analysed the photo as the words finally sunk in. “...what do you mean, she turns into birds?”

“She turns into a big burst of birds dude, I dunno what else to say!”

He lifted up the notepaper he’d been writing on, a messy scrawl of information. “Ben is their Number One. Still called Ben, still the Horror.”

“What else?”

Diego scrambled to find a picture of the Sparrow Academy as adults in his printouts, pointing at each person in turn with the end of his pen, starting with a handsome blonde.

“Okay so. Number Two – Thomas, the Pulse. It seems like...thunder and lightning powers? Summoning them, hands go all flashy, that kinda thing. Like Thor? Yeah. Anyway. Number Three-“

And so he went on.

Number Three was Anya, the Glowing. Laser vision. “She’s quiet, barely says anything in the articles I read.”

Number Five, Christopher, the Operator. Technological control. “I found photos from when they were kids. He was fully human…once.” (Five couldn’t help the shiver down his spine hearing that.)

Number Six, Viktor, the Pain. Pain transference, could damage himself and transmit that injury to others. “A model, which I did not expect.”

And Number Seven, Dion, the Seer. Able to see ten seconds into the future, leading to lightning fast reflexes. “They’re the face, definitely. Most of the interviews are led by them or Thomas.”

Diego leaned back in his seat, looking up at Five. “Think we could take them if it came to it?”

“...easily.” Five smirked, staring down the photo in front of him, especially homing in on the dour face of Ben. “Anything else?”

“Mostly just their escapades. They’re still going as a team, still fighting crime in those dumb uniforms, in between their other careers if they have them.”

Diego flicked through various pages on the computer, showing years of articles and scanned newspapers with the Sparrow Academy lined up after various missions, some mirroring ones the Umbrella Academy did as teens, others from dealings with villains neither had even heard of.

They still seemed popular too, that was the thing. A lot of the press lost interest with the Umbrella Academy after a while, once the novelty had worn off, and a lot of local officials questioned whether it was even right to let children do such things. Diego remembered that their slightly reckless natures didn’t fully help that public image either…

“And what was the thing nearly making you cry?”

Diego spun around in his seat, met with Five’s blank stare.

“I wasn’t-“

“Diego. I know that face. Show me.”

He huffed, opening up a separate window to show a social media page, a photo of a beaming bride.

“Eudora’s alive,” he said quietly, “She got married two years ago.”

“Oh. Shit.”

Tentatively, Five put a hand on Diego’s shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze. His brother seemed a little taken aback by the affectionate gesture but let out an appreciative sound before turning back to the screen.

“But...that’s not all.”

With a deep breath, he hit the next image. Eudora in her wedding dress still, stunning and glorious next to her groom-

“Holy shit.” Five’s voice dropped to a hiss, his eyes widening.

Unmistakingly, the man in the photo was Diego. A different haircut, no scars on his face, a softer look in his eyes, but almost certainly it was him.

“Javier Ramos,” Diego said, his voice distant, “That’s all I saw before you spoke to me. I don’t know if I wanna look any further.”

“Diego, if he’s still in town-“

“No, that I do know.”

He clicked off, pointing at a section of the screen that said _‘lives in’_. “They live up state, see? I think Eudora got transferred.”

Five settled a little at this. No paradox psychosis for Diego, thank God.

“We’re all out there, aren’t we?” Diego asked, staring at the photo of his doppelgänger once more. A face so familiar yet so alien. “If Dad never chose us, it means our birth moms kept us instead. Or they dumped us at an orphanage, I dunno.”

“I…”

Five swallowed. This was out of his depth, even with his experience. He’d never really considered that there would be another version of the six of them out there. Granted, he hadn’t had much time to consider such a thought in the last forty-eight hours, but it made sense.

He wondered what happened to this world’s version of him. Had he been overly cocky, had he also time travelled and vanished away from his parents? They really knew nothing about their backgrounds, where they originally came from, because it never mattered, but now…

“At least Dad didn’t kill us like Luther thought,” was all he could say, standing up straight and holding his head, “Shit. That is...too much of a coincidence, that your other you ended up with Patch.”

“All I could have had if I hadn’t fucked up, huh?”

Diego gathered up his notes, folding them over and stashing them inside his jacket, before standing. Five looked up at him, scowling.

“Don’t think of it like that. Who knows what Javier Ramos is like? Could be a bigger jerk.”

“...he still looks happier.”

_Shit_ this was so out of Five’s depth. He was still learning how to drop the whole heartless assassin thing. Why couldn’t it be Klaus or Vanya here instead? Hell, even Luther could bro it out better with Diego than him!

“Five, it’s...it’s fine.”

Diego had turned to switch off his computer, sighing heavily. “It was just a lot for me to see right now, when I’m still... _dealing_ with Lila. I’m just glad Eudora’s happy. Even if it’s with some square-ass lookin’ version of me.”

Five still offered his best attempt at a comforting smile, even patting Diego on the back as they left the library.

“Okay, if you say so. But you bring up a great point – what _did_ happen to the rest of us?”

“There’s no real way of us finding out. Even that was just too much of a coincidence.” Diego ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it from his eyes with a huff. “I know Mom gave us names that were popular from where we’re from, allegedly, but that doesn’t exactly narrow it down. And it’d take forever to track down every case of a sudden birth on October 1st, who knows who reported it or not?”

“Look, we’ve done a lot of research this morning. A lot of stuff we maybe didn’t want to see.”

Five decided to shrug off his jacket, tying it around his waist as they paused on the library steps. “Let’s find somewhere to break for coffee and a bit of lunch, I’ll tell you about what I found and we can go over your notes a bit before we show the others.”

“Yeah…”

Diego’s hand suddenly landed on Five’s shoulder, directing him to follow his gaze. Across the street was an electrical pole...covered in crows.

The two watched the birds for a few more moments before they flew away.

“It’s...it’s nothing,” Five said firmly, jogging down the steps, “C’mon.”

“Yeah...if you say so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, Klaus just...never mentioned Dave by name to anyone
> 
> also, because I put way too much thought into it and this is where I've first sort of introduced the Sparrows, a little...brain dump.  
> [here](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ElG6q5zWMAALmq_?format=jpg&name=large) is my designs for them because I needed to know how to picture them when I write them pft (I messed up Ben's scar there, whoops)  
> Obviously three of them (Anya, Gwen and Viktor) have their powers based on the comics, but gave them original designs only ~vaguely~ inspired by the comics (Viktor looks more 'human' to run with the more semi-realistic vibe of the show for instance)  
> Christopher had his name given by show runners, but doesn't have a power in the comic (he's just...a lil' cube floatin' there), so made one up. Then Thomas and Dion, who are the ones who look most like two of the comic Sparrows, I gave new powers because it...really looks like they straight up just have Luther and Allison's powers?? at least to me. and that's no fun. So ya'll get budget Thor and future vision.  
> that's it, I just...I needed to explain that. y'all will get to meet them properly soon I hope.
> 
> anyway, next chapter is Vanya and Luther go grocery shopping because 1+7 team up is best goddamit


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luther and Vanya go grocery shopping, open up over an indulgent picnic, and are visited by a surprise guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> said it end of last chapter, but 1+7 friendship is best which is likely why this chapter ended up as long as it did. I crave more bonding between them, and Luther still feels bad for things.

“Urgh, this is so much stuff…”

Vanya stared at their shopping list with a groan, rubbing her head. On the bus ride over to the supermarket, every other time it stopped she seemed to think of another thing they needed.

“I mean, you are right,” Luther said, grabbing a shopping cart and pushing it inside, “How the hell are we meant to eat instant noodles without cutlery?”

“Yeah but plastic party stuff seems like such a waste…”

“Well, it makes sense to invest in good dishes rather than cutlery, I guess?”

He looked down at her and pet her head, his large hand nearly engulfing it. “Hey, hey. Come on, it’s just for now.”

Vanya gave one last look to the list and sighed, nodding. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, just...last few days. Y’know?”

“Tell me about it.” Luther peered at a newspaper as they passed, spotting the Sparrow Academy on the front, and sighed.

“How are you, by the way?”

He frowned, glancing back at her as they made their way through the aisles. “How am _I_? What for?”

“I...can’t imagine it was easy to see Dad again, after all he did to you. You spent the most time with him out of all of us.”

“What he did to _me?!_ ”

Luther let out a short laugh, but trailed off, staring at his feet. “I mean...yeah. It wasn’t easy, brought a lot back. The supper we had back in the Sixties was hard, but somehow yesterday was harder. How about you?”

“Weird, that’s for sure.” Vanya grabbed a few boxes of cereal bars in various flavours, silently overjoyed they were on offer. “My memories are back, sure, but it’s still...achey.”

Then again, that could be the drugs the FBI gave her still swimming in her system someplace.

“R-right…”

She blinked, placing a hand on his arm. “Luther, you know I forgive you. You’re one of the most sincere guys ever, and you meant every word of that apology.”

Luther wrinkled his nose, grabbing a box of muesli and reading the ingredients with far too much interest. “Sure but...doesn’t make up for everything.”

Vanya walked around, snatching the box from him and tossing it in the cart. “I said a lot of awful things about you in my book. I think we’re even.”

He narrowed his eyes a little before shaking his head and scoffing. “Fine, fine.”

As they made their way to find instant ramen, he added, “I still have regrets though. For everything that happened between us. What could have been.”

He scrunched his eyes up the moment he said it. “I, crap, not like _that_ , I mean...I wish I could have gotten to know Sissy better. Or maybe picked up that Leonard was a creep. I don’t know. I just could have been a better brother so many times before this.”

“It’s okay, I know what you meant.”

Vanya smiled softly, staring at the list again where everyone had put their favourite flavour of noodle. “I wish you could have gotten to know Sissy and Harlan better too. I think Harlan would have really liked you.”

“Kids usually do. No clue why, especially with…” He gestured vaguely at his body. “All this going on.”

He glanced over at the list himself, grabbing a few packets of noodles from the higher shelves. Vanya raised her brows, crouching down to get some more from the bottom one.

“We’re a good team,” Luther chuckled, “We cover a lot of ground.”

“The amazing adventures of Space Boy and Number Seven,” Vanya said, putting her hands on her hips for a moment. She faltered, making a small _‘hm’_ sound. “I know we’re not anymore, and I never was, but...you think I should give myself a superhero name? For the hell of it? Kind of always wanted one.”

“Why not!” Luther’s heart fluttered a little to see her so genuinely relaxed. He could count the number of times that had happened in their childhood on one hand. “They are fun to have, even just as nicknames. I hate being called Number One, but Space makes me feel good.”

He paused, giving a wink. “Bet yours would be better than Diego’s, easily.”

“Yeah, I never got his. Kraken? Like, what’s that got to do with his power?”

“Oh my god, right?!”

They both giggled. Luther felt relaxed himself. He’d never imagined spending time with Vanya, but he was more than happy to have the chance now.

“I mean...speaking of our powers…”

They’d arrived at the homeware aisle, picking out a few of the cheaper bowls. Luther turned over a blue one in his hands, deciding he wanted it for himself.

“What about them?”

Vanya took a slight breath. “Do...you think you guys would help me learn them better?”

Luther blinked. “I mean, you seemed to have a pretty good handle of them at the farm.”

“Sure but...I don’t have the discipline you guys do.” She gave a grimace, glancing to the side. “I mean...I know _why_ , but I’d still like to know. Or maybe a little hand-to-hand combat for now.”

Luther chewed his bottom lip in thought as he set the bowls down in the cart. “I...I could give you some pointers, I suppose. But why would you need to know that?”

Vanya went quiet, leading the way down the toiletries aisle. “I...I just have a bad feeling. Don’t you?”

“...about the Sparrows? And Dad?”

He pulled his lips thin, grabbing a few multipacks of toothbrushes. “Yeah. Maybe a little. He let us go almost too easily.”

“So I want to be ready. I need to practise my powers more.”

“Yeah. But we do it as a family.” He smiled, slowly and awkwardly putting an arm around her back, pulling her close to his side for a slight hug. “So we wait for the others to get back and talk it through with them, okay?”

“Sounds good.” She smiled back, turning around to hug him properly, burying her face into his stomach.

Luther blushed a little, resting a hand on her back. He tried not to think of the last time they hugged, what he’d done then, and instead appreciated this gesture, that she was even comfortable trusting him to do it. If they weren’t in the middle of the supermarket, he might have ducked down a little to rest his cheek on the top of her head, lifted her up a little to experience what a proper hug from him was like.

Instead he coughed once a few too many people gave them funny stares, gesturing back at the shelves.

“Shampoo and soap?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Vanya grabbed a large bottle of shampoo that Allison recommended would be good for all their hair types. “How was the shower for you this morning, by the way?”

“Urgh, the worst,” Luther huffed, finger hovering over the deodorant to find the right ones, “I’m too damn tall for it. I just sat down in the tub eventually, it was easier.”

He trailed off, bunching into his shoulders. “Uh, then I got stuck trying to stand up.”

“Oh _that’s_ what you and Klaus were yelling about.” Vanya patted his back, stifling back the smallest of giggles. “I just heard him yell about you wearing your underwear.”

“Yeah, I managed to get those on before he barged in to pee.” He hid his face in his hands, groaning. “I would kill to have a bath again. They used to do wonders on my muscles after a fight. I was too tall even then but at least I could get back out when I was done. Plus now, I’d have...to look...”

He lowered his hands, briefly tensing his fingers at the breast of his sweater, before grabbing some of the deodorants. Vanya gulped a little, feeling a pang of remorse over her earlier giggling.

“Hey. Here’s an idea.”

The look he gave was rather pathetic, but it seemed like that was just his face lately.

Vanya took control of the cart from him. “I’ll finish off the list. You go get us lunch.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s have a fun picnic back at the motel so get whatever you want. Literally anything, within reason obviously.”

Luther’s eyes lit up a little at this idea, head tilting to his shoulder. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Meet me by the check-out once you’re done. Again, within reason, but just...go wild.”

The way Luther ambled away like an excited child was quite sweet. Another sort of thing that made Vanya angry in retrospect, that their father had turned what should have been a gentle shy boy into a brainwashed soldier who couldn’t stand the sight of himself.

She occasionally spotted Luther as she got the remaining items on the list, dashing through the aisles with a tiny grin, his arms full. They met up at the registers as arranged about fifteen minutes later, as he placed his haul into the shopping cart.

“Wow,” was all Vanya could say as she looked over it. Some soda and two large bags of chips, crunchy peanut butter and bananas and a packet of chocolate chip brioche, as well as two pre-packaged sandwiches (one egg mayonnaise, one ham and cheese).

“Did I get too much?” he asked cautiously, rubbing the back of his neck, “Or is it the sandwich? I just guessed what you might like, I can get something else-“

“No Luther, it’s fine.”

The two started to unload their cart’s contents onto the closest empty conveyor belt, making sure they’d gotten everything originally on the list. Vanya gave Luther a small nudge at the hip, her face bright.

“It’s gonna be a great picnic.”

He chuckled, shuffling along and asking the cashier for a few bags to pack the groceries in.

The lady gave them both an odd look as she scanned their items. Suppose it was a wild collection of things, plastic cutlery and bowls, far too many packs of instant noodles and the strongest coffee they had. She didn’t say anything though, which is what mattered, especially with the odd amount of bills they paid in. _Totally_ not suspicious.

They weren’t left with much cash after paying, but they were well stocked for essentials, and hopefully some of them could find a job in the next day or two so that it wouldn’t matter.

“Can you manage?” Vanya asked, out of habit from helping Sissy with the groceries back in Dallas.

Luther let out a little snort, easily holding five bags across both his hands, like they were still empty. Vanya blinked then covered her mouth with a laugh.

“Oh, right.”

That left her with one bag, the lightest that mostly had the bowls and their lunch, as they made their way out to catch the bus again.

“Pretty successful trip,” Luther said, raising his head up a little, face lit up with a proud smile. He’d never actually gone grocery shopping properly before. “We really do make a great team.”

“Who’d have thought, huh?”

A bright yellow raincoat caught her eye as they walked, enough that Vanya glanced at the owner simply for how striking it was. The owner had a scarf wrapped around the lower half of their face, but she could clearly tell they were staring right at Luther, wide eyed and gawking. He thankfully hadn’t noticed, too focused on carrying their haul, but she did.

The stranger’s gaze wandered to lock eyes with Vanya. She scowled back, feeling energy pulse through her veins. Something didn’t feel right.

“I think the next bus is only a few minutes away.”

Luther’s voice broke her concentration, and when she turned back, the yellow raincoat was gone.

“Vanya? You okay?”

He managed to shift all the bags into one hand to lightly pat her shoulder, eyes darting for what he might have missed. She stared at the spot the stranger had been in and shivered.

“Yeah, sorry, I just thought...I don’t know. I saw someone, staring at us.”

“Someone? What do you mean?”

“I...I don’t know. I think I’m overthinking things.” She sighed heavily, nudging him gently as she walked towards the bus stop. “Let’s just get back, huh?”

The journey back, Vanya couldn’t get that stranger out of her head. With such a striking outfit, it was like they wanted her to notice them. But surely she was just being a bit paranoid? How long did it take for LSD to fully leave your system anyway?

Luther looked down at his sister, brow knitting together as he saw the distance in her eyes, and wondered what the best place for them to train her powers would be, in case the worst did happen.

*

Once they reached back to the motel room, they spent some time unpacking the groceries. Luther turned on the TV to a music channel, which helped speed the chore up by singing along to the mid-00s pop that was on.

“Did we decide on who gets what dresser drawer for clothes?” Vanya asked, carefully putting the six bowls they’d bought onto a shelf in the wardrobe.

“Don’t think so,” Luther said from the bathroom, wiggling his shoulders in time with the music as he arranged the toiletries, “I should probably share with Klaus.”

“Yeah? How come?”

“I wear the bulkiest clothes and he wears basically no clothes, so it works out.”

He poked his head out, a brow raised. “You think Allison’s convinced him to wear a real shirt? He’s super fashionable, but I get cold just looking at him sometimes.”

Vanya giggled, setting out the food he chose for their lunch, grabbing the ham and cheese sandwich and sitting on the bed.

“C’mon. I know you have some plan for this.”

Luther grinned, sitting down at the dining table and opening up the brioche. “I made this a few times when I was younger, when I was bored and using whatever I could find. I mean, I’d use normal bread usually but I saw this and thought it would be extra good.”

He rummaged for a plastic knife in the bag, starting to cut open the small buns over a paper plate. He then cut one of the bananas into slices, before opening up the peanut butter and smearing it on the brioche, then putting the banana slices inside.

“Ta-da,” he said quietly, reaching over to push the plate across the bed toward her.

Vanya set down her sandwich and picked up the treat, taking a bite. She covered her mouth, pulling a contemplative expression as she chewed.

“Oh, this is _indulgent_ ,” she said with a quick grin, licking peanut butter from her teeth, “I usually don’t have crunchy but it works.”

“Because the bread and the banana are super soft, so it adds an extra texture!” Luther said excitedly, making some more, “Want another?”

“Yeah, why not? Just the one.”

Whilst he worked away, Vanya brought the rest of their snacks to the bed, bringing her feet up and flicking through the TV channels for something to watch.

“There we go.”

The bed sank slightly as Luther sat down, licking the edges of the plastic knife clean of peanut butter and handing her over another plate.

They eventually chose a game show, excitedly yelling out answers in between bites, pumping the air when they got it right and cursing when they didn’t.

“This feels weird,” Vanya said softly, drawing one knee up to her chest and hugging it.

“Good weird or bad weird?” Luther asked, cocking his head to the side as he chose between the two bags of chips.

“I dunno. I just...you ever wonder what our kid selves would think if they saw us like this?”

He frowned, settling on a cheese and onion flavour and giving her a sidelong glance. “I mean, a helluva lot. Given...everything.”

He lowered his head, deciding to take off his gloves and tossing them behind him as he dug into the bag. “We don’t fully know each other despite living together for seventeen years, that’s for sure.”

“And we can change that.”

He sniffed a little, leaning back. “Well, how about you start? Was Sissy the first to win your heart?”

Vanya blushed a little, but was unable to hide her smile. “Oh my God…”

She took a quick sip of soda, then shrugged. “Sort of? Even before Leonard, I had...well, not partners really. Flings? I thought they mattered but it was always so messy.”

“...so you dated girls before?”

Luther said it slowly, no malice, just genuine curiosity. Vanya pushed her hair behind her ear, nodding a little.

“Yeah, a few times, but we never really clicked. With Sissy though it was like...we were both at the same point where we realised what was right for us. That we were right for each other. Because of my amnesia, I guess I ended up discovering myself properly all over again, but for Sissy, how she was raised and the era she lived in...I’m just glad I got the time I did with her. It was short but I’m not forgetting it any time soon.”

Luther’s hand went to his chest, his eyes glistening. “That is...so sweet. Oh my gosh…”

Vanya blushed more, rubbing the back of her neck. She thought again of what their kid selves would think seeing them like this, big strong Luther nearly in tears of joy whilst she spoke about her girlfriend. It was almost funny, but she didn’t want his sensitive soul to think she was laughing at him.

“Really puts into perspective what I was doing in the Sixties,” Luther added, swinging his legs slightly as he rubbed his eyes, “You were falling in love, living out this cute farm dream and I was boxing on behalf of the guy who killed the guy who killed JFK.”

“And that’s not cool how exactly?” Vanya said, giving him a weak punch to the arm, “You got to know a historical figure!”

Luther considered this and shrugged. “I mean, I guess? Jack was pretty weird. Like, he said he was gonna bring ‘his wife’ to the club once, and I was ready to act all proper but...it was his dog.”

“...what?”

“He had a dachshund called Sheba. Loved her to bits.” He looked over and pulled an expression of disbelief. “I actually miss that dog. I’d take her to the vet and sneak her bits of steak when Jack wasn’t looking.”

Vanya couldn’t contain it, falling to her back and bursting out laughing. “He called his lil’ wiener dog his _wife_?!”

“Like I said, he was weird!” Luther threw his head back with a laugh, holding his sides. “I-I know I can’t judge but like…you wouldn’t believe some of the stuff-”

He was cut off by a sudden flash in the middle of the room, and a suited short man carrying a briefcase stood in front of them. Their laughter quickly turned to screams – Vanya ended up standing on the bed, her body full of such a tension the TV started flickering wildly, whilst Luther was already on his feet, fist clenched and ready.

“Woah, woah! Don’t worry, I’m a friend!”

The guy dodged back before Luther could swing, holding his hands up. “I’m Herb! I realise we never met properly before. I’m friends with your brothers, from the Commission.”

Luther and Vanya relaxed a little, recognizing Herb with a grimace.

“Sorry, we uh…” Vanya stepped down from the bed, shuffling on the spot and clearing her throat. “Didn’t anticipate any guests.”

“Sorry, I would have knocked but uh...this was quicker.” Herb looked between the two of them with a slightly giddy expression. “One and Seven! Wow. Met practically the whole set now! I guess I met Six technically but-“

He cut himself off, waving his hands in front of his face. “No, sorry, getting carried away. More important things. Are your other siblings around?”

“Uh, not here, but they should be back soon hopefully,” Luther said, sitting back down on the bed heavily, “Do you need to talk to Five?”

“Well, all of you really.” Herb bared his teeth uneasily, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt. “Things...really messed up. It’s best you’re all here for it.”

Luther and Vanya exchanged glances, mouthing _shit_ as they did. Obviously they knew things weren’t right, but if the Commission were contacting them again…

“Uh, would you like a coffee whilst you wait?” Vanya asked, gesturing at the kettle, “Or a tea?”

“Or a banana?” Luther asked dumbly, pointing at the bunch still on the table.

Herb gave him a look, but smiled and nodded. “Coffee would be great thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk how true the thing about Jack Ruby and his dog are, but haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I read about it. I'm also so unobservant that I didn't notice it was a dachshund in the show. I was just vaguely aware there was a dog on screen.
> 
> I've been uploading these first four chapters sort of weekly, but that might not be the case for a bit, just because I wanna build up a bit more of a backlog aaand also I need to learn how to have a little more impulse control when it comes to uploading things lmao  
> either way, next time, Herb reveals some important information~ ooo


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which many things happen.  
> Five is a good brother. Herb sets Team Zero a task. Some theories are thrown around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is a lot of dialogue here folks. it's what I do best but oh god everyone is just talking so much  
> but also, some softness.

What followed was what felt like the longest thirty minutes of their lives. Herb settled into one of the armchairs, watching the TV with interest whilst Luther and Vanya stayed on the bed, finishing off their lunch in silence.

Finally, they heard footsteps pass the window...followed by a series of random knocks on the door.

“What are you doing?” Five’s voice was annoyed and audible from the other side.

“Secret knock, so anyone in knows it’s us,” Diego replied.

“It helps to establish that sort of thing first, you know that right? Also if nobody’s in-“

“Door’s open!” Luther called, cutting them off, “And uh...we have a guest.”

Diego and Five entered, spotting Herb and having two very contrasting reactions. Five paled a little whilst Diego’s face lit up, doing an elaborate handshake in greeting.

“My man!” he cried once they were done, “The hell you doing here?”

“Once you’re all here, I’ll explain.”

“How long has it been for you since we last saw you?” Five asked, frowning as he gently tapped the breast of his jacket.

“Uh...five months. It’s been busy. But I’d rather you all be here so I’m not repeating anything.” He sunk back into the armchair again, waving dismissively. “Look, pretend I’m not even here for now. I’ll explain soon.”

Five found that answer satisfactory, tapping Vanya on the shoulder. “Hey. Can we talk in the bathroom? Diego, you fill Luther in on as much as you want to for now.”

“Gotcha,” Diego said, diving to sit next to Luther, taking out several sheets of crumpled paper from his jacket pocket.

Vanya followed Five into the bathroom, watching as he shut the door behind them.

“Five? What’s wrong?”

He took a deep breath, holding out one of the printouts he made. “It’s...it’s Sissy’s obituary. I thought it might…help?”

Vanya clasped her hands over her mouth, staring at the paper before shakily taking it. She sat on the toilet seat to read it, her eyes wide.

“Shit…” She bowed her head, taking a shaky breath. “I-I…”

“It sounded like she had a good life,” Five said gently, shuffling over and placing a hand on her shoulder, “You helped her realise so much about herself, and she died peacefully. Plus...Harlan wrote it.”

“I saw.” Vanya took a deep breath, glad she didn’t have the energy to cry quite yet. “He should still be out there, right? He’d still be alive.”

“Exactly.” Five glanced back over his shoulder at the door for a moment. “Maybe we could...find him. Somehow. Once we’re a little more settled, we could track down more about him.”

Vanya looked up at him and smiled weakly, standing up and grabbing him in a hug. He flinched a little from the touch, but settled and hugged back, rather stiff though.

“...I’d like that,” she said softly, letting out sigh, “Thanks for doing that for me Five. It sounds like she was happy to the end.”

“Because of you,” he said firmly, closing his eyes for a moment. This had gone better than expected.

He let Vanya hug him for a while longer, until he felt her body shift against him slightly as she let out another hesitant sigh.

“I talked about it with Luther already, but…”

*

“Vanya wants to train her powers.”

Diego looked up from the paper he was laying out across the bed, staring at Luther’s serious expression.

“For real?!” he cried, keeping his voice hushed.

“It makes sense,” Luther said, giving a quick sidelong glance at Herb before shrugging, “With everything that’s happened, she wants to practise. Even learn a little hand-to-hand, which we could teach her, easily.”

Diego ran his fingers through his hair, exhaling slowly. “Suppose you’re right.”

“Plus she…” Luther frowned a little. “She froze outside the grocery store. Said she saw someone suspicious watching us. She’s worried about the Sparrow Academy, and Dad too, and I don’t blame her. I’m pretty worried as well.”

“Huh. Funny. Me and Five thought we were being watched when we left the library.”

The two stared at each other, shaking their heads to dismiss the thought for now.

“E-either way, I’m with you on being suspicious about the Sparrow Academy,” Diego said, gesturing at his handwritten notes and newspaper photo printouts in front of him, “Shit might go down and there’s still so little we really know about her powers.”

He trailed off, flexing his fingers in a rhythmic motion. “About... _all_ our powers.”

Luther glanced at him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You mean what you did at the farm?”

“I...I was running blind, I’ve never deflected so much before. And Vanya, all the shit she did, it’s…” Diego sighed, slumping against his brother’s side and rubbing his eyes. “There’s something there.”

“I always thought we were stronger together,” Luther said quietly, shifting a little to rest his cheek on top of Diego’s head, “I messed up way more on missions without you all. I wouldn’t have had my accident without even one of you there.”

“You think we’re _literally_ stronger together though? We fought side by side as kids, and nothing seemed that different.”

Luther scrunched his face up as he thought. Diego just appreciated his warmth as he waited, watching Herb watch the game show on TV with fascination.

“We were working under Dad’s orders,” Luther said finally, furrowing his brow, “If he hid the entirety of Vanya’s powers…”

“Then maybe he hid some things about ours.”

Five’s voice was low as he walked from the bathroom, Vanya not far behind.

“I agree,” he said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. He shot a glance in Herb’s distracted direction, and sighed heavily. “I’ll explain properly later but...the way I knew the world was going to end in 1963 was because I travelled to that day initially. I saw you all fighting and the way you all were using your powers was like nothing I’d seen before. For instance…”

He waved a hand at Luther. “I saw you take a missile to your bare back like it was nothing.”

Luther’s eyes went wide, letting out a small scoff. “What?!”

“Like I said, I’ll...I’ll explain everything properly later.” Five saw the look his siblings were giving him and huffed. “A lot happened. Okay? I’d rather we all be here for it.”

He began to pace a little, feeling his cheeks burn with frustration. Vanya smiled weakly, stroking the breast pocket where she’d put the obituary.

“I told him I wanna train my powers more,” she explained to the other two.

“And she’s right,” Five said firmly, stopping very suddenly, “I think we could all benefit from a little team training. But we’ll figure that out when everyone’s here.”

“Could not agree more,” Luther said, raising his hands up.

Diego thought about the rush that went through him deflecting all those bullets back on the farm, the tingle of energy that he swore he could still feel in his arms, and nodded. “Definitely. We need to be ready, just in case.”

It was another hour before Allison and Klaus got back, giggling as they burst through the door with arms full of bags. They stopped the moment they saw the grave expressions of their other four siblings, and when Herb stood up with a shy grin.

“Right. Everyone here?”

He took the centre of the room, whilst everyone else sat on the beds, though Five dragged one of the dining chairs to slump on.

“So, as I said earlier, it’s been about five months for me since I saw you all at that farm in Texas,” Herb said, clasping his hands together tight, “Dot and I got back to the Commission and everything was in order. So we went ahead and started making new arrangements, setting up meetings and then…”

He hesitated, rocking on his heels as he carefully considered how to explain. “The Infinite Switchboard exploded.”

“It _what_?!” Five cried, immediately turning to glare at Diego, “What the hell did you do to it?!”

“Why is it _my_ fault?!” Diego snapped back, hand to his chest in offence.

“Oh I don’t know, Mr ‘ _I made that machine my bitch_ ’, tell me why-“

“I-it wasn’t Diego’s fault,” Herb cut in, smiling uneasily for a second, “It was...uh…well it must have coincided with you six travelling back to 2019.”

Klaus raised a hand. “Quick question. What the hell is an Infinite Switchboard when it’s at home?”

“It’s like...a way of monitoring the timeline and all possible outcomes of the timeline,” Five explained, sliding down his seat in irritated exhaustion.

“So... _we_ broke it,” Vanya said quietly, bowing her head.

“Oh, no, no, don’t…” Herb trailed off and grimaced. “Okay so technically, yes, but also everything else. The Switchboard couldn’t handle so many changes and short circuited. That’s why it’s taken me so long to get to you, at least from my point of view. We’ve been fixing it so I could actually find you, and it still needs repairs. How long have you been here?”

“Barely two days,” Allison said, “What do you mean by ‘so many changes’?”

“Well, mostly the no apocalypse one. Again, thank you all for that. But also the issue with-“

“The Sparrow Academy,” all six said in unison, their faces falling.

Herb looked pained, nodding his head. “Yes. I originally went back to the mansion to check in on you but when I knocked, some man I didn’t recognise said nobody with your names lived there.”

“Was he one of these guys?” Diego asked, holding up a printout with a line-up of the Sparrows on it.

Herb squinted at the picture a little, then pointed at one, a handsome man with a scarred face. “Him.”

Diego checked, rubbing his chin with a thoughtful ‘hmm’. Five gave him a look then waved his hand for Herb to continue.

“Anyway, managed to find you now, obviously. And...I have a favour to ask of you all.” He took a deep breath. “I want you to investigate the Sparrow Academy. I think they may be the key to fixing everything and restoring the timeline.”

Luther raised his hand. “When you say investigate, do you mean…?”

He glanced amongst his siblings then punched his open palm lightly. Herb crossed his arms with a pained expression.

“Hopefully it won’t come to that. I just think investigating it all will help us be able to...correct the timeline. We’re trying to avoid the whole assassination thing now, but we still have methods. Your original timeline still exists somewhere out there, I know it.”

“So...you could make it that Reginald Hargreeves adopted us again?” Allison asked, clasping her head in her hands, “And make everything go back to normal? So I could see my little girl again?”

“Hopefully, yes.”

Herb exhaled. “And we at the Commission will provide whatever you need in the meantime. Five is still technically owed a monetary pension, after all.”

“We do need ID,” Diego said, “We were planning to find some work to get by…”

“Easily done. Too easy. I’ll throw in some resumes and can get those with you in a day or two.” He tilted his head, giving a sympathetic smile. “We are still pretty busy trying to rebuild things. Need to find the right people for the job.”

After a recap of the plan, Herb went to grab his briefcase once more, but Diego jumped to his feet.

“Hey, can we have a quick chat? Outside?”

He grinned uneasily at his siblings before he and Herb shuffled into the corridor.

“What’s up?”

Diego wrung his hands together, looking back at the closed door and sighing.

“Any...any sign of Lila?” he asked quietly, trying to not let his voice betray any worry.

Herb furrowed his brow at him, then shook his head. “Sorry, Diego. Not yet. I can keep an eye out…?”

“Yeah, uh. That’d be great.”

He reached over and gave Herb’s shoulder a squeeze. “You really think we can do this?”

“Diego, I’m certain you can.”

He rested his hand on Diego’s, squeezing it back, then stepped away, giving a small wave as he vanished in a flash of white.

Diego stared at the spot he’d been stood and sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair. Lila was safe. He hoped.

*

“So, quick rundown on what I found.”

Five now took centre stage, arms behind his back. “You’ll be pleased to know, our little brush with the assassination of JFK is nothing more than a conspiracy theorist’s wet dream. There’s some photos out there, but they’re old and blurry and nobody really believes.”

He turned to Klaus, frowning for a moment. “The most effect Destiny’s Children have had was seemingly pushing back Beyoncé’s career by a year or two.”

“That is the worst sin I have committed,” Klaus said, shaking his head in fake shame, “I am a disgrace!”

“They have a little commune, it seems quite nice, all things considered,” Five continued, ignoring Klaus’ dramatics with a shrug, “A few events happened a day early or a day late but honestly...it’s almost _weird_ how little everything has changed.”

“Except for the Sparrow Academy,” Allison said, leaning back on her palms.

“Well, and what Diego discovered.”

Diego blinked, pointing at himself as Five stepped aside and let him take the floor.

“I...accidentally found myself.”

The other four stared blankly. Diego scrunched his face up, flailing his hand a little.

“I mean, this world’s _version_ of me. Some guy called Javier, married to my ex-girlfriend Eudora.”

“Holy shit, seriously?!” Luther cried.

“I can confirm,” Five said, “There was no mistaking it. Which means, we’re all out there too. Do any of you know anything about where you were born?”

Klaus raised his hand, immediately lowering it to scratch the back of his head. “I’m German. I just...I know I am. Going by my name and...other things.”

There was clearly more to it, but Klaus just smiled weakly and looked away.

“I think I’m Russian,” Vanya said quietly, a distant look in her eyes, “Not just because of my name, or the whole thing with the FBI. When...when I was drugged, I think I saw myself being born. There was a swimming pool…? It’s a little fuzzy.”

“...that is more info than I anticipated,” Five said, massaging his temples to try and focus, “Anyone else have anything?”

“Nothing here,” Luther said with a pained look, “I never bothered to think about it.”

“Yeah, I have no idea either,” Allison added, twisting the ends of her hair between her fingers, “Does it really matter?”

“It does if any of us still live nearby,” Five said sharply, “We lucked out on Diego’s other self moving upstate but should any of us cross paths with this timeline’s version of ourselves...it’s bad news.”

“Paradox psychosis,” Luther gasped, covering his mouth.

Diego cocked a brow. “Paradox _what_ now?”

Five sighed heavily, tilting his head back to the ceiling before slumping down in a chair. “Okay. This might take a while.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me if I was in charge of the Commission: hey what if instead of killing anyone who has the chance of changing the timeline, we just mildly disrupt their day? just...be a minor hindrance? it's arguably more fun and less MURDER.
> 
> there was a little bit meant for the end of this chapter that is the aftermath of Five explaining paradox psychosis, but I already unloaded a LOT of info this chapter, and it flows a bit better with the next so. we good.
> 
> I have a specific hc on why Klaus knows where he was born, that...kinda gets implied soon??? but I've also started writing something of it...yeah.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pizza places are the best locations to gain surprise info. Also - Allison gets some closure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops it's been a month. happy new year! I've had this finished for a while, I straight up just forgot. I dunno.

“...so anyone want to share any other mind-shattering stories about our time in Dallas?” Allison asked, her gaze dashing between Five and Luther.

Their tale of meeting Five’s older body (but technically younger self) sounded unbelievable but just about anything did when their lives were concerned.

Sheepishly, Klaus got to his feet, bowing his head.

“Okay, so. Look. Ben was with me the whole time. I lied and I’m sorry about that, okay?” He squirmed on the spot, raising his hands in front of his chest, the **HELLO/GOODBYE** visible. “I was in a mood with him and I’m sorry.”

“You’re forgetting the most important thing,” Diego said, the tell-tale sign of anger rising in his tone, “He _possessed_ you.”

“He _what_?!” Vanya cried.

“Yeah, when we were meant to meet Five behind Elliot’s, before Lila brought me to the Commission. I went to collect Klaus as his lil’ commune, and Ben was possessing him.”

Diego’s face went a little soft before he lowered his gaze with a scowl. “I _talked_ to Ben. I _hugged_ him. It was Klaus’ body, but Ben was there.”

“Then…” Luther’s eyes went wide, his expression falling. “When you were flailing all over the place...and threw up…”

“Yeah. That was me...evacuating him.” Klaus looked over the two of their faces and glanced away quickly, unable to face the anger and confusion there right now. “When I freaked out at the supper with Dad, that’s when we really figured it out.”

Five hummed, scratching under his chin. “Well, now I feel a little bit bad for yelling at you. Does lend itself to our little theory earlier though, doesn’t it?”

The other four stared at him, each letting out their own small mumble of, “Huh?”

“We might be more powerful than we were initially led to believe.” Five gestured at the still remorseful looking Klaus. “He can allow a ghost to possess his body. With the right spirit, he could be dangerous.”

“Gee thanks,” Klaus said, narrowing his eyes as he crossed his arms tight over himself, “It’s not exactly fun, it’s rather violating. Ben doing it was only remotely okay-ish because we’re brothers... _were_ brothers. Not letting any jerk get in here.”

“Fair enough.” Five swung his legs a little, then stood up. “I saw a pizza place on our way back here. How about that for dinner?”

“We literally went grocery shopping,” Luther said, gesturing at the fridge.

“I think we deserve pizza though, don’t you?”

“I’ll come with,” Klaus said, still looking a little huffy, “Need to clear my head.”

“You know what, I’ll join you,” Vanya added, getting to her feet, “Today’s been weird.”

Five smiled, then immediately let it falter, glancing at Allison then turning back to Klaus and Vanya. “Uh...Klaus, why not show the others their new clothes. I need a chat with Allison in private before we go.”

Vanya’s eyes went a little wide, her shoulders tensing as she guessed what kind of private chat he needed, but was immediately distracted as Klaus shoved a new shirt into her hands.

Allison followed Five into the bathroom, uneasy from his change in mood.

“Five…?”

He swallowed, unfolding the piece of paper from his pocket and smoothing it out. “I’m...I’m sorry, I know this isn't the kind of news you want to hear now, after everything but…it’s about Ray.”

Allison’s head spun as she took the paper, the words blurring and swirling on the page. She steadied herself against the sink, managing to focus enough to read.

“I’m sorry I never got to meet him,” Five said quietly, leaning back against the door and crossing his arms, “He seemed like a great guy.”

“The best…” Her breathing hitched for a moment. “He...remarried.”

Five swallowed, glancing over his shoulder quickly before nodding. He was not the man for this…

“I’m sorry you had to find out like this, I just thought-“

“No, no, Five, don’t.”

Allison looked up and gestured him over, pointing at a section. He peered over, reading the line.

_Ray’s eldest daughter, Nadia Allison Sullivan, led the service._

Five blinked. He hadn’t paid that much attention to the name. “I…”

“ _She spoke of his activism during the civil rights movement of the 1960s,_ ” Allison read out, her voice wobbling slightly, “ _And how he continued to fight for the rights of black Americans his whole life…_ ”

She clutched the paper to her chest, a smile spreading over her face. “Five...thank you. Really.”

He braced himself for the anticipated hug. Allison knew better, and kept it to a short squeeze before stepping back.

“Thank you,” she repeated, reading over the paper once more, “You didn’t have to do this.”

“I think I did though.”

He reached over and patted her arm, before his hand went to the door handle. “Do you need some time by yourself?”

“Uh...just a little longer.” Her smile was a little weaker now, as she sat down on the side of the bathtub. “Go on. Get me something spicy on the pizza.”

*

Klaus scuffed his foot against the floor, arms wrapped around himself as he stared up at the ceiling of the pizza place. He was vaguely aware of a TV in the corner, showing the evening news.

“You guys aren’t mad at me, are you?” he asked, pursing his lips the moment he did.

“Only the usual amount,” Five muttered, earning him a smack in the arm from Vanya but he didn’t take his eyes from the notice board he’d been staring at.

“Why would we be mad at you?” Vanya asked, going back to toying with the cuffs of her new shirt.

“Because I lied about Ben.”

Klaus tapped his toes against the sticky linoleum, still not really looking at them. “Not even back in Dallas, but for years. He was with me and I just...lied.”

“Well, I wasn’t here for all that,” Five said plainly, taking down a notice for a job vacancy and stuffing it into his pocket, “Was rather rude of you to pretend he wasn’t there, but I’m not mad about it, no.”

“And neither am I.”

Vanya looked up at the TV, tilting her head. “I wish I wasn’t the only one of us that got to say goodbye though.”

“That’s the problem.”

Klaus lowered his head, looking at them on the other side of the room. “Allison already said she wasn’t mad about it, but...Diego sounded pissed when I apologised earlier. And given what happened the day Ben died, I’m worried Luther’s upset about it too.”

He huffed, catching the ticker tape headline of the news. **SPARROW ACADEMY STOP ARMED ROBBERY**. Ben’s smirking face flashing across the screen, waving blood-soaked hands at the press.

“ _That_ isn’t helping,” he added with a wave at the screen, wishing he could look away, “It’s not right. Ben was a sarky jerk to me at the best of times but that’s...not him. Thinking about what happened to make him like that…”

“Then _don’t_ think about it,” Five said sharply, taking a seat next to Vanya and crossing his arms.

“But shouldn’t we?” Vanya shrugged a little, watching the news herself. “If the Commission wants us to investigate what happened to cause this timeline, we’re going to have to maybe...talk to him. Talk to Dad again.”

Five wrinkled his nose, drumming his fingers against his arm as he thought. Vanya was right, of course, but he also felt it best for the sanity of his siblings that they avoid any meeting with their dear old father for a while. Perhaps if he went first...

“We’d have to be cautious,” he said finally, stretching out his legs, “Can’t let him know that we’re planning on changing everything again. We’ll do more research into the Sparrow Academy, find some place to train up just in case…”

“I’ll try and find some friendly ghosts who’ll help me out,” Klaus said, finally managing to pull his eyes away from the TV as the story changed, “There’s bound to have been at least _one_ guy at that motel who died violently and would do anything to pass on.”

Vanya grimaced a little, getting to her feet as the store worker came up to the counter with their order.

“How much?”

“Oh, on the house pal,” the worker said with a grin. She threw a thumb over her shoulder, turning to Klaus. “Jimmy in the kitchen, he’s a big fan, really appreciated what you did for him at your show here a couple years back.”

Klaus blinked, tilting his head slightly. “...hm?”

As if on cue, the kitchen worker, Jimmy, stumbled out from the back door, holding up his phone.

“This is you right?” he asked, showing the video playing on the screen, before glancing over at his co-worker, “Still can’t believe you’ve never seen his stuff before Jen. The hair threw me off but…”

The three siblings stared wide eyed at the phone. Unmistakably, the man in the clip was Klaus. Short ginger hair, a little more colour in his cheeks but same wispy goatee and an equally flamboyant sense of fashion. The long silk gown he wore fluttered about as he spread his arms wide, fists glowing blue. Then by his side, the flickering ghostly form of a young woman with a head of dark curls appeared, smiling as she fondly reached over and cupped this other Klaus’ cheek.

“...that _is_ you, right Lukas?” Jen asked, raising a brow at their slack jaws.

“Lukas?” Klaus repeated, watching this other version of himself swan about.

“He’s probably trying to keep a low profile,” Jimmy said, elbowing Jen in the ribs, “That’s probably a wig or something. Seriously though Mr Lange, what you did for me after my grandpa died, it meant a lot to say goodbye one last time.”

Klaus glanced helplessly at his siblings before standing up straight, grinning maniacally.

“Uh... _ja_! That...that is me!”

_Oh this accent is bad_ , he thought as he grabbed a bottle of soda from the counter. “I’m...glad to meet a fan!”

“I’m just glad I could thank you again,” Jimmy added with a smile, “I thought all mediums were just scam artists, but you’re the real deal.”

“Mm…” Klaus gulped a little, feeling a slight wash of guilt for accepting the compliments meant for this Lukas guy. “It is... _kein Problem_. Uh, _danke_ much for the free food, that is too kind.”

_Ah shit, I’m going a little French._

Thankfully his sister could think fast when needed. Vanya grabbed two of the pizza boxes, smiling gently as she handed them off to Five.

“This was very kind of you,” she said with a smile, taking the remaining pizza box and the sides they ordered, “Now Mr...Lange here has a lot of work to do tomorrow, so if you don’t mind, we have to go.”

“ _Auf Wiedersehen_!” Klaus cried as they left, his face bright red as he huddled in on himself.

He gave Vanya a small nudge. “Thanks for that Vanny.”

“Don’t worry, that was...super weird.”

Klaus nodded, glancing over his shoulder at the store as what he had seen truly sunk in.

“Did we just...find out what I’m doing in this universe?” he asked, his voice breaking.

Five looked back also, a bemused look coming over his face as he made a mental note of the name _Lukas Lange_. “We certainly did. Somehow doesn’t surprise me that your alternate self is somewhat known.”

“You must be really good if they’re willing to give us a free meal like that,” Vanya added, tilting her head a little.

Klaus just nodded, hands tensing. He’d spent a better portion of his life suppressing his own powers with enough booze and drugs to kill the average person (and it had for him, a few times). But here, this other him, this Lukas, had found some kind of career out of it. The worst thing being, he looked _happy_ doing it. He was helping people, making them feel better after losing those they loved…whilst perhaps selfishly Klaus avoided it whenever he could.

He opened up the soda and took a slug, quietly wishing it was vodka to take away the sensation of guilt building up in him.

“Gross,” Five said, rolling his eyes, “We have to share that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't spoken German since I was,, sixteen (and even then, badly) and I know it's basic as hell shit here but apologies if it's off


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luther misreads a situation, but clears the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeehaw

_Knock-knock._

“Allison? You okay?”

“You fall in?”

Luther gave Diego a look, before knocking the bathroom door lightly again. “Allison?”

The door opened, Allison smiling gently at the two.

“Sorry, I just...I got a little spaced out.” She noticed the slightly stressed expression Diego was pulling and raised a brow. “Did you need to go…?”

“Yes, badly,” Diego said, not so subtly squeezing his legs together where he stood, “Gonna take a shower too so…”

His lips pulled thin, looking eagerly over Allison’s shoulder and whining a little. She rolled her eyes and stepped out of the way.

“Go ahead.”

“ _Thank you_!”

He grabbed a small pile of clothes and hobbled into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

“Don’t pee in the shower!” Luther yelled after him, watching as Allison went to the closest bed and fell back onto it, her arms stretched out.

He scratched his neck, shuffling in front of her. “Uh, we put most of your new stuff in the middle drawer, with Vanya’s,” he said, pointing at the chest of drawers, “Um, other than your...y’know.”

His face started to turn red, gesturing at the bag still on the table. “ _Y’know_.”

“...underwear?”

Allison sat up and chuckled, shaking her head a little as she went to the drawer. Luther could only smile uneasily, rocking on his feet.

“Uh...what did Five wanna tell you? He pulled Vanya into the bathroom like that too, so…”

“He wanted to give me Ray’s obituary.”

Luther’s eyes went wide, a hand to his mouth as he stepped closer. “O-oh, shit, Allison, I’m so sorry-“

“No, it’s fine, I’m fine.” She smiled, wrapping her arms around herself. “He remarried, he had kids, he got to teach again. And he kept fighting.”

Her smile grew more, taking out the piece of paper and smiling down at it. “He was happy. That’s all I could have asked for.”

With that, she set the paper down and started to change. Luther yelped, turning his back, even covering his eyes for good measure.

“Oh, sorry.”

“No, just...being polite.” With his eyes still covered, he turned his head over his shoulder to show he was smiling. “I’m glad Ray was happy though. Wish I could’ve gotten to know him better. He seemed like a great guy when I spoke to him.”

“Yeah, the best...I’m done now.”

Luther nodded, turning to find Allison dressed in a pair of comfy looking pyjamas, folding up her other clothes into a neat pile.

“Guess we better figure out how to use that launderette soon, huh?” he said, going to sit on the bed opposite. He shot a glance at the pile in the corner that was a mixture of his, Vanya’s and Klaus’ clothes and grimaced. “Quite like that sweater. Oh, the uh, the new one you guys got me is really nice though. It’s soft. Thanks.”

“No problem Luther.”

Allison came and sat at his side, a hand stroking up his arm. Luther’s face went red and he pulled away, scrunching up his eyes.

“Allison...we need to talk.”

Allison blinked, glancing around the room quickly and lowering her hand. “Um, Luther, I was just-“

“No, look, I...I get you’re single again, but I had a lot of time to think when I was alone.”

Luther was on his feet now, pacing the floor and gesturing wildly with his hands. “I don’t think you have feelings for me anymore and that’s fine, I get it. Ray was amazing and I’d never live up to that. And look, I always knew there was no chance, maybe always knew it was weird and me not understanding things, about love, about myself.”

Allison very suddenly caught on to what was happening. She tried to interrupt again, but clearly this was something that had been building in Luther for a while, his hand movements becoming more and more frantic as he tried to articulate everything.

“I love you so much, with all my heart, to the point it hurts, but I love Vanya and Five and Klaus too, and _fuck_ , I even love Diego. And I loved Ben too, _our_ Ben, not that emo guy.”

He stopped, burying his head into his palms for a moment. “What I’m saying is...I want to be friends. And that’s what I always wanted. Dad never taught us how to be normal, so I never realised what I was doing was _not_ normal, that my feelings weren’t ever really _that_ kind of love. You obviously realised that ages ago, but I’m slow on the uptake I guess.”

And suddenly he was back on the bed, clasping her hands with a pained look in his eyes. “I don’t want things to be strange with us anymore. I’m sorry I was like that all those years, but...I spent so long in that house, alone…I think I need to discover myself a little more.”

He shrugged a little, letting out a slightly dismissive breath as he lost confidence in what he was saying. “Whatever…that means. Is that...okay?”

“...I just wanted to say those new clothes seem to fit you well,” Allison said, grimacing awkwardly, “They look really nice on you.”

Luther’s face somehow went even redder, glancing down at the hoodie and sweatpants he’d changed into.

“... _oh_.”

“ _Yeaaah_ …”

Allison shuffled where she sat, as Luther’s cheeks burned. Slowly he lifted up his hood and pulled the strings, whining loudly.

“Oh, Luther, don’t-“

“I am so sorry,” he said, voice getting muffled as the hood covered him, “I didn’t mean to...do that. I didn’t talk for so long on the moon, I think I still forget how to sometimes.”

Allison rolled her eyes, managing to lightly slap at his hands until he stopped, before moving the hood back to show his face once more.

“Luther, it’s fine. I’m on the same page, I want to be friends too.”

Luther blinked, before breaking into a shy grin. “Really?”

“Yeah. I love you too...and I love everyone else.” She let out a sigh, pressing the heel of her palm to her forehead. “Dad _really_ messed with us. It’s no surprise what happened, really.”

“I’m still surprised we even got basic sex ed,” Luther added, trying to keep his tone light as he nudged an elbow against Allison’s side.

She scoffed, nudging him back in agreement. “Christ, don’t even make me remember those classes. That video!”

“Urgh, yeah. It was... _so_ gross.”

“ _And_ it didn’t even tell us everything!”

Allison looked up at Luther, opening her arms wide with a grin.

“Friends?”

“Friends.”

Luther wrapped her up in a hug, pulling her close. It felt like such a weight off his mind to say all those things, for Allison to understand and feel the same.

“Love is so damn confusing,” he mumbled, letting out a small huff from his nostrils, “But...hey. When we get the chance, maybe we should send flowers to Ray’s family somehow?”

“...yeah. That would be nice.”

Allison nuzzled against Luther’s chest, unable to stop grinning. She’d really missed being close to her siblings.

“Aaaam I interrupting?”

Diego stood leaning out of the bathroom door with a towel around his neck, a brow raised. The other two broke apart, shaking their heads.

“Not like that, I guess,” Luther said slowly, scratching under his chin.

Diego tilted his head then shrugged, going to throw his dirty clothes with the rest of the pile. “Sure. Yo, All, can you do the like...the hair twisty thing with towels? Y’know the…”

He made a strange gesture with his hands above his head. “The thing. I’ve never had my hair so long before, so I thought I oughta try it out.”

Allison sighed a little, pointing at the bed. “Sit.”

Diego did as he was told, leaving Allison to kneel behind him and twist his hair into the towel. He glanced at Luther and gave a thin smile.

“Okay, I did hear most of what you guys said. I’m glad you’ve figured it out.”

“...did you hear me say I love you?” Luther asked quietly.

“Yeah. Really appreciate being an afterthought.”

Diego reached over and punched Luther’s shoulder, only to get tugged back into place by Allison.

“Stay still, I haven’t done this in a while,” she said, starting the towel turban over again, “And it’s harder to do on someone else.”

Diego crossed his arms, scowling ahead, especially when Luther chuckled.

“This kinda feels like when we were kids,” he said, stretching his legs across the gap between beds so his feet rested on the one opposite, “We used to be way closer, before…”

He doesn’t finish the thought. Before he was manipulated as favourite, before Diego was constantly put down as second in command, before Allison was made to use her powers for whatever whim their father forced her to do.

Just a time when One, Two and Three were friends. When they all were.

“Remember that game we used to play?” Allison asked, deciding to give up trying to twist the towel and instead using it to gently rub the damp ends of Diego’s hair, “Where we built up all those wooden blocks then kicked them down?”

“Monster city destruction,” Diego said with a laugh, “Fuck...I miss being a kid sometimes.”

“I miss being short enough to not hit my head on door frames all the time,” Luther added, sarcastically morose, which made the other two laugh more.

“I miss things being so simple. Or at least seeming like they were.”

Allison fell down to sit with a small bump, tossing the towel over Diego’s shoulders once more. He looked over at her, reaching back to pat her knee.

“Hey. They’ll be simple again soon enough. We’ll kick the Sparrow Academy’s stupid asses and then we’ll change the timeline back to how it’s supposed to be. I’ll be back slumming it in the boiler room of a gym, you’ll be back hugging your lil’ girl and Luther will be running NASA or some shit.”

Allison smiled, moving to grab Diego in a hug. He rubbed her back, glancing up at Luther.

“Come on, bring it in big guy.”

Luther beamed, squeezing the two of them close to his chest.

“You’re good at motivational speeches when you want to be, man.”

“Real good,” Allison said, trying to squirm her arms out to hug both her brothers at once, “I...I honestly have a little more hope now.”

“Well, keep that hope. We’ll be home before you know it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> subtly pushing my ace!luther agenda....anyway that's **that** thing dealt with, let's get on with this lmao :U
> 
> One Two Three is an....underrated combo

**Author's Note:**

> yes the title is a lyric of Want You Gone from Portal 2
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/UndeadSwine) // [Tumblr](https://starryeyedspaceboy.tumblr.com/)


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